A Tale of Two Mommies: (Re)Storying Family of Origin Narratives

Publication Date

5-24-2016

Document Type

Article

Organizational Units

College of Arts Humanities and Social Sciences, Communication Studies

Keywords

Origin stories, Co-mother family, Normative narrative, Heterosexual love, Biological childbearing

Abstract

This study examined co-mother family of origin stories. Origin stories, representing the formation of a family, are culturally understood within a master narrative of heterosexual love and biological childbearing. Beginnings of co-mother families rupture this dominant, gendered, boy-meets-girl script. Investigating whether or not co-mother stories reify the normative master narrative or if instead their narrations resist and/or possibly transform conventional understandings, analysis identified three co-mother origin story themes: Becoming a Family (1) as Normal, (2) as Negotiation, and (3) as Normalization. Themes differ in terms of depiction of co-mother family formation as congruent with current norms, as something that needs to be made to seem normal (i.e., in need of normalization), or as something between normal and normalization—to be negotiated internally within the couple. Study results are discussed within a broader framework of family coming-together stories.

Copyright Date

5-24-2016

Copyright Statement / License for Reuse

All Rights Reserved
All Rights Reserved.

Rights Holder

Taylor & Francis

Provenance

Received from author

Language

English (eng)

Extent

15 pgs

Publication Statement

Copyright held by Taylor & Francis. User is responsible for all copyright compliance.

Publication Title

Journal of Family Communication

Volume

16

Issue

4

First Page

303

Last Page

317

ISSN

1532-7698

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